I'm Sorry
by StarfireRocks
Summary: Harry/Hermione pairing, in the middle of the Final War. Just before Harry goes into the Forbidden Forest, Hermione and he have a private moment. (It's categorized as Romance, but it's nothing heavy at all, pretty much just referenced to)


**Yet another Harry Potter oneshot, but this time with my favourite pairing! It isn't great, it isn't long, it isn't my best work, but I quite like it. **

**Before you read this, you should know that this is slightly AU - the events are (as far as I'm aware) the same as the actual books, but with a Harry/Hermione pairing. In case you don't pick up on it, this is set right before Harry goes to the Forbidden Forest to meet Voldemort in the Deathly Hallows. This scene never happened, obviously, but it _could've _if my fav pairing actually happened.**

**Disclaimer: I love Harry/Hermione, but no, I don't own anything at all recognizable.**

"Be careful," she whispered as she fought back tears, absently straightening out his robes. "Just . . . Just don't die, okay? If . . . Please, Harry, don't die. I can't – _you _can't, all right? So just . . . don't."

He caught her shaking hand in his, effectively stopping her motion of tugging his sleeve. "Hermione," he said, sounding strangled as he looked at her in pain. "You know how this has to go. I saw in the memories, 'Mione, in Snape's memories; I _have _to. I'm sorry. I . . . I'm so sorry."

She dipped her head and pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, feeling weak-kneed. "There has to be another way," she said half-heartedly, already knowing full well the hopelessness of the situation. "After all this time – all these years of fighting him, finding those horcruxes . . . Dumbledore couldn't have sent you out to do all that, and then expect you to just – just stand there and let him _kill _you!"

He gently squeezed her shoulder, simultaneously linking their fingers with his other hand. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but all it did was succeed in making it harder for her to keep it together. "It'll be okay," he said. "When I go, you just have to kill the snake – kill the snake, then it's just him, Hermione. We can end this – it can finally be over, once and for all. I've already told Neville and Ginny, just in case you and Ron don't -" He broke off, pain flashing in his eyes before he managed to cover it up. "It'll be okay," he repeated hoarsely. "The professors, McGonagall and Flitwick, they can take him after the snake's gone. We can end this, Hermione."

She bit her lip but forced a nod, feeling the tears finally slip free. She felt his hand leave her shoulder and move to her cheek to brush away the tears. It lingered, causing her to look up; she found his brilliant emerald eyes right in front of her, silently apologising in the way no words could. Though he didn't say anything, she knew what he was trying to tell her.

"We've only been together for a few months," she said in a trembling voice. "That's all we get, Harry! A few months together before you – you . . ." She trailed off into dry sobs, and she felt him draw her to his chest and wrap his arms around her.

"Hermione, you know that isn't true," he said quietly into her ear. "We may have only been a couple for a few months, but we've been best friends for years. When we got together, was it really that much different than when we were just friends? Other than the physical aspect, I mean."

She could practically feel his grin at the end, and she weakly smacked his arm. He immediately sobered and hugged her tighter, resting his chin on the top of her head. She sighed and snuggled in deeper, willing to lose herself in the moment and forget about the temporarily frozen war around them, and the body's in the Great Hall.

"No," she admitted. "It wasn't really different. But that doesn't change anything, Harry! You're still going to _die_!"

She felt him flinch and instantly felt guilty, pulling back to look him in the eye. He was staring above her head, expression stoic but his eyes betraying his every emotion. She felt her heart break as she looked into their emerald depths, and let her hand float up to card through his hair.

"I'm sorry," she said weakly, and his eyes darted back down to her. "I know this isn't any fun for you, either."

He smiled softly, a sad sort of smile, and pulled her hand back down to hold in his own. "Hermione, I've been fighting him since my first year at Hogwarts – earlier, if you want to count the fact that the prophecy was made when I was one. I think a part of me always sort of expected this – I can't ever remember a time where I could imagine my future past Voldemort."

She pulled her left hand out of his, but let him keep hold of her right. "Not even with me?"

She said it in a weak, teasing tone, but with an edge of truth and honest hurt mingled in.

He hesitated before replying, absently playing with her fingers. "Maybe, for a moment. But, by the time we got together, we were in the middle of finding the horcruxes, so there was no day spent free from him. I did let myself wonder, for a second, but it doesn't matter now, does it?"

She shook her head, fresh tears falling. "I didn't know," she whispered. "I didn't know you thought about that."

He shrugged. "I never told you." He glanced up at the sky through the hole in the ceiling and grimaced, reluctantly untangling their fingers. "The hour's almost up," he said woefully. "I have to go."

A flash of panic made its way through her, and she instinctually shot out a hand to snag his arm as he started to turn. "No," she protested tearfully. "No, please, just . . . just another minute."

It was a shock when he spun around and cupped her face. "Hermione, you're the smartest person I know, witch or wizard, and we've known each other since we were eleven years old. In all that time, we've been through so much, you, Ron, and I, and you've always been the one we count on to keep a level head. You're very good at keeping calm and proving you're smarter than us by keeping it together, and I know it's hard, but you have to do that one more time, okay?"

Her tears dried as she resolutely drew her emotions back in and nodded, standing straighter and dabbing her cheeks with her sleeves. "Okay," she said, pulling her face free from his hands and taking a step back. "You have to go," her voice broke but didn't pause, "so go. I'll make sure the snake is killed."

He looked relieved as he swiftly wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. It was rushed and passionate, but still gentle, before he pulled away to rest his forehead against hers.

"I could still go with you," she whispered, her breath hitching as her shoulders trembled.

"You know I won't let you do that," he replied in an equally quiet tone. "You have to live, Hermione, if nothing else. So many have already died, too many, in this war, unnecessary deaths that could have been prevented . . . you can't be one of them. You can't come, Hermione, you know they'll kill you on sight."

She took a shuddering breath and slipped away from him. "I'm going to turn around," she said softly, staring at the ground, "and I'm going to count to ten. You have to go before I turn back around, because otherwise I won't be able to let you go."

Without waiting for an answer, she followed through with what she said she would and faced the opposite way. For a second, she didn't hear anything, but by the time she counted to three in her head, she could make out footsteps moving away from her. When she got to eight, she couldn't take it anymore and sank to the ground, sobbing into her hands.

**Originally, I was going to keep writing up to the point where Harry shucks off the Invisibility Cloak and reveals he isn't dead, but . . . eh. I got distracted, then lost inspiration. So this is as far as it went. **

**Hope you enjoyed, and, uh, please review!**


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